Beacon
by SasuSaku Forever and Ever
Summary: As he lay there, helpless and dying, Sasuke figures that Sakura deserves to hear his confession. Inspired by 698


**title:** Beacon  
><strong>prompt:<strong> chapter 698, usuratonkachi, basically sasusaku lol. rip naruto 1999 - 2014 :( but sasusaku will live on!  
><strong>rating:<strong> T  
><strong>summary:<strong> As he lay there, helpless and dying, Sasuke figures that Sakura deserves to hear his confession. Inspired by 698+

**warning:** slight ooc Sasuke, but Sasuke's been pretty ooc lately tbh

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><p>His entire being was exhausted: from the fight, from revealing his secrets to Naruto, and from just <em>living<em>.

Sasuke thought that losing a limb—especially his left arm—would hurt more than he expected, but lying there in a pool of his own blood, reaching out for Naruto's own phantom limb, he didn't seem to hurt too much at all. Rather, he felt numbness and the warmth of scarlet racing down his skin to drip steadily onto the ground.

"I am dying," he croaked to Naruto. Groaning, Sasuke struggled to sit up, but couldn't find the energy to do so. Instead, he slammed back onto the hard ground with an angry thump, his eyebrows twisting into frustration and pain.

"No, you're not," Naruto growled. The blonde struggled to turn his head so that he could face his best friend, but that, too, was a big effort on his own part. "We will not let you die."

"We?"

"You think Sakura-chan will just give up on you now? Now that we have you back, she's just going to forget about you? You're the stupid one, baka."

Sasuke's eyes closed for a moment, and he became deathly quiet. After a few moments of uninterrupted silence, Naruto said, "Hey, don't you give up on us, teme. Answer me!"

"She must hate me now. Even if she finds it in her heart to forgive me, she doesn't have enough chakra to heal both of us," Sasuke groaned, arching his head back in pain. His limbs were paralyzed, and he had no control over his body. "And don't think she'll save me over you."

Sasuke made another attempt to sit up, but was stopped by the angry pain burrowing its many knives into his heart.

_This is how I die_, he thought._ Too stupid to realize I had a family and friends all along._

"She meant what she said, you know," Naruto whispered. "She never stopped loving you."

"…I know," Sasuke replied, the words barely audible from his mouth. He didn't want to talk about her right now. Even though he had already gone through so much chaos simply in the last few hours, causing him to lose his arm and perhaps his own life, thinking about Sakura's pain tugged at his chest. He ached. This pain was different from the effects of the grueling brawl between him and Naruto; it froze him, paralyzed him, and invaded his body and mind. Even when he tried to block her out, thoughts of Sakura—both the maddeningly annoying and tender ones—were always there, always present.

_If I still have a place somewhere in your heart…_

The feelings of a clenched fist that wasn't there and the slight tremor of his useless legs signaled to Naruto that even the most casual mention of Sakura was enough to affect him.

She was his family; she was his friend. It made sense that he would hurt for her as well, but Sasuke knew that these newfound emotions did not encompass the same kinds of feelings as they did for Naruto.

Naruto made a great, strenuous effort to tilt his head to face Sasuke's. He cracked a smile, and told him with a genuine somberness, "All she wanted was for her to be a part of your life. And don't you dare tell me she meant nothing to you."

"She reminds me of my mother," Sasuke breathed.

"Your mom?"

"She was my light."

Naruto's eyes widened.

"Are you talking about your oka-san or—"

"_Naruto_!"

The two boys felt their teammate's footsteps echo wildly as she raced towards them, the effects of Sasuke's genjutsu worn off her body. Her eyes filled with tears of worry, unafraid to stream down her bruised cheeks and pale lips while she held back her screams of seeing her two boys mutilated by each other.

"Naruto—Sasuke-kun," she began. "I—"

Then, shaking her head and realized now was not the time for answers, she began tearing pieces of her other sleeve off into thin shreds. Although her eyes focused on Sasuke's disfigured body, laced with scars and cuts and bathed in blood, her duty was to Naruto.

"Hold on, Sasuke-kun," she promised, beginning to bandage the blonde. "Don't you dare give up on me now, you hear?"

"…Aa."

"Where's Kakashi?" Naruto asked, his back propped up by Sakura's hand. She wiped the excess blood off his cheeks and took him into her arms, careful not to cause him any pain.

"He's coming," Sakura said. "You'll be okay, I promise."

Naruto laughed, using his good arm to pull Sakura away. "Tell that to teme. He's been waiting for you ever since we got like this."

Sasuke saw by the way Sakura froze that, eager as she was to save him, she was not prepared to face him again after what he had done to her. And that was completely understandable; what he did to her was horrendous, and she had every right to be mad at him. Similarly, he had every right to be mad at _her_.

_Sakura_, he thought, one eye open to look at the slender face that was once accompanied by baby fat and the innocence of childhood. _Why can't you just hate me? Why can't you understand that maybe _I'm _afraid to let you in?_

He braced himself for her ardent clinging. Instead, he felt his neck choked by her hold on his collar, and saw the fury lit in her irises, with her fist pulled back and ready to attack.

"No, Sakura-chan," Naruto cried. "Don't kill him!"

A half-smile, half-smirk appeared on Sasuke's face. His eyebrows softened, and he let out a quiet chuckle, which in turn infuriated Sakura even more.

"Go ahead," he said. "Hit me. I deserve it."

He'd already admitted defeat to Naruto. He figured Sakura deserved to hear his loss as well.

Sasuke saw Sakura's hand shake, and he figured that he was already in enough pain—a little more wouldn't affect him too much. Considering the amount of suffering he'd caused her over the years, it was fair for her to finally let her feelings explode all over him.

Her fist came tumbling down. Closing his eyes and bracing himself for the impact, he was surprised to see that her knuckles had met the ground next to where his head lay, her fist barely brushing the ends of his soaked hair.

"You idiot," she whimpered.

She brushed the stray locks of Sasuke's bloody bangs away from his face, scraping off the dried gore with her fingers. Tenderly, she cupped his cheek and stroked his hard skin with her thumb, her eyes never leaving his.

"Can you see me?" she asked.

"Aa."

"Tell me what you see," she ordered.

"I see…a light."

Sakura's lip quivered, and she bit it down, forcing herself to stay calm in her situation. No longer would she allow Sasuke to see her weak side. She couldn't just be vulnerable because of him.

"Sasuke," Naruto murmured, his eyes focused on Sakura to see if she understood his reference.

She didn't.

"I will absolutely not let you die!" she yelled, shaking him. "Don't tell me you see a fucking light!"

Using the last of his meager strength, he lifted up his right arm and placed his hand flimsily onto Sakura's cheek. She gasped, taken aback by his sudden touch.

"I was so consumed by darkness that I couldn't see your light shining in front of me. For that, I'm sorry."

Sasuke knew that those words were enough to break down her wall. Immediately, she let out a cry so painful his own eyes began to well up for her, and she collapsed onto his body, holding him in a tight embrace that nearly suffocated him and crying out his name.

"Sakura…" he choked, his hand resting feebly on her waist. "You're heavy."

Her arms never separated themselves from his body, even when Kakashi finally arrived on the scene, sickened by the aftermath between two brothers.

Sakura buried her face into his clothes, coated with a thin sheen of blood and dirt, and pressed her lips against his neck where his curse mark used to be.

"Everything will be okay," she assured, her tears mixing in with the muck on his collar. "We'll be okay, all of us. I promise."

He returned her embrace, his chin settling on the shoulder of the arm she used to save him. With his body in a gentle state, wrapped in Sakura's security, he smiled.

"You're annoying," he said.

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><p><strong>Sorry I haven't been updating much on fanfiction! I'm still very active and check every day, but most of my miscellaneous writingsrequest fics are on Tumblr (sasusakuforeverandever : I'd love if you followed or messaged me!).**

**I have't written anything in so long so I wanted to write a 698 prompt and what happens after. I am not mentally prepared for the end of Naruto, seriously, but I've been a SasuSaku fan for 8 years and counting and I will continue to be one even after Naruto ends. SasuSaku is my life and soul and I've met so many amazing friends and talented people and made some of the best bonds. I wouldn't have become a writer had it not been for SasuSaku.**

**I hope you all like this. Please leave me your reviews and thoughts and feel free to talk to me anytime!**

**Love you always and forever,**

**SSFAE**


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